In 1923, when George Oliver Lillegard—an Iowa-born pastor sent by the Missouri Evangelical Lutheran Mission[4]—arrived in Wanzhou (then known as Wanhsien [Wan County], was part of Sichuan Province) to set up a small mission station in the Robert Dollar Building, Protestantism had already been introduced to the region by Anglican missionaries in the late 19th century.
[1] In 1925, part of Lillegard's residence at Gaosuntang Residential District, was converted into a chapel named Holy Cross Church.
[1] The church became one of the county's main venues for Protestant worship the next year, after its relocation to Banbian Street.
[2] Lillegard served in the church until 1927, when the Wanhsien incident forced all Americans out of Sichuan and Hubei.
In 2005, in order to support Three Gorges Project, the church was moved to its present location and rebuilt in neo-Gothic style.